Flipkart ditched Airtel Zero after People Start Downvoting the App

Recently the #SavetheInternet campaign for net neutrality got a boost on Tuesday when AIB launched a viral video, also with India’s eCommerce company Flipkart pulling out of the Airtel Zero platform.

Airtel Zero marketing platform permit customers to access & browse certain applications and websites at zero charge as long as the makers of those apps and services pay Airtel for this free access.

While Cyber experts argue that this goes against the concept of net neutrality, which says that all data on the internet is equal and should not be discriminated against.

Flipkart announced its decision after a widespread backlash against the company on social media People Start Downvoting the App on the Android and Apple stores after its CEO, Sachin Bansal, tweeted in support of Airtel Zero.

The company has issued the following statement:

We at Flipkart have always strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality, for we exist because of the Internet. Over the past few days, there has been a great amount of debate, both internally and externally, on the topic of zero rating, and we have a deeper understanding of the implications. Based on this, we have decided on the following:

# We will be walking away from the ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero.

# We will be committing ourselves to the larger cause of Net Neutrality in India. We will be internally discussing over the next few days, the details of actions we will take to support the cause.

# We will be working towards ensuring that the spirit of net neutrality is upheld and applied equally to all companies in India irrespective of the size or the service being offered and there is absolutely no discrimination whatsoever.